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Glen Rose House Rental Photos and Description

We’ve been waiting over twenty years to buy Mata’zamo, and you’ll see why before you even get to the end of the 1.1 mile driveway!

Mata’zamo, Swahili for ‘ up high and far afield’ is completely surrounded by our ranch, is in our low-intensity use area, and close to some of our favorite trails and sunset spots. This means we have a place where you can truly get away from it all, surrounded by wildflower and grassy fields, perched on the edge of a cliff giving you a miles-wide vantage point over the edge of Texas Hill Country.

All to yourself!

We completely restored the house to make it energy efficient (spelled C-O-O-L in our Texas summers!) and added an upstairs deck that catches great cross breezes, overlooks the cliffs and faces west. A great place to watch sunsets, clouds and stars! At Mata’zamo you’ll find:

• A total of 1600 sq feet of living space (including the porches and decks) on two levels.

• Dishes for 12, nicely equipped 'slow food' kitchen for cooking, preparing meals. We left out the microwave and dishwasher on purpose!

• An outdoor gas grill, with propane.

• Indoor and porch tables easily seat 4-6 people each.

• An open floor plan- there are only 4 inside doors, two to the bathrooms, 1 to the kid’s bedroom (w/ 4 bunk beds) and 1 to the screened-in porch.

• The upstairs (with the queen and trundle beds in the open loft) has a half-bath, opens onto the deck, looks out onto the downstairs living area, no doors!

• The full bath with walk in shower room has all of the closets (so no need to lug your bags upstairs!) and laundry room.

• We are pet and horse friendly. The adjacent 3 stall horse barn, 2 pens and a pasture are right out the door, along with miles of trails, but it’s bring your own horse! Well behaved and trained dogs that won’t harass the wildlife or livestock are welcome, there is no fenced in area for dogs.

• High speed internet is available, but we purposefully did not put any TVs in! We did include games and books about our local nature.

We welcome you in a way that feels like home away from home, you'll find familiar touches from your own kitchen, including tea, coffee, spices, paper towers, plastic bags - the basics, and maybe new things to try.

To encourage family time and taking it slow, there is no microwave or dishwasher!

One of our team members will meet you at our High Hope gathering area (near our main entrance), lead you to Mata’zamo, and get you oriented on our trail maps.

If you are bringing your horses, we’ll also match your horses to our trails so you’ll be safe and happy!

We doubt you’ll want to leave, but if you do, we have a detailed list of local restaurants, can help you set up tours at Fossil Rim, and have information on other local attractions (we wouldn’t want you to miss Fossil Rim, Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose’s new Riverwalk and Big Rocks Park, shopping the Square’s antique stores, galleries, clothing stores, weekend farmer’s market and pie shop (plan ahead and order gluten free!!!).

Our ranch has been managed organically and holistically for over twenty years, we keep our houses as non-toxic as possible, too.

It is easy to get lost at Mata’zamo, lost in thought, lost in time, lost from stress and the city life!

All of this and just 90 minutes south of the Dallas-Ft Worth area! We invite you to stay at Mata’zamo, it’s the best cure we know for nature deficit disorder!!!

NOTE: Please let us know how many adults, kids, dogs (and if they are crated or uncrated) will be with you, and if you'll be bringing horses, so we can send an accurate quote!!!! The quote will show the refundable security deposit, which will be billed separately if you would prefer. If you are still reading, please ask for the reader's discount!!!

About Sandra Skrei

We have a team of people taking care or our guests! Three of us, who all live on the ranch, Krystyna, Chandler and Sandy, all have historical ties to Fossil Rim, which you will see reflected in the Fossil Rim and Africa inspired décor of Mata'zamo!

Sandra Skrei purchased this house in 2012

Why Sandra Skrei chose Texas Lakes

We bought this property because it was our last inholding, and is on one of the spots with the best views in Somervell County!

What makes this house unique

You can sit on our upper deck and feel like you can see forever, or at least to Stephenville! Since it is at the end of the road, you have no neighbors. Unless you happen across another guest hiking a trail, chances are you won't see anyone else while you are here!

Peace of mind when checking out through HomeAway

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(28 traveler reviews)

The Perfect Getaway

Owning a business, working a full time job, chasing a toddler and living in the middle of downtown Dallas can make someone crunchy so when we decided to close our restaurant and take a few days off for our little one's fourth birthday and Thanksgiving, we started looking for a quiet little getaway. Who knew that just an hour and a half outside of Dallas, Mata'Zamo and High Hope Ranch was waiting for us! This place is amazing and exactly what we needed! The house and the ranch are beautiful, Sandy and Chandler were lovely hostesses and we got to escape our busy lifestyle and relax in this special place they have chosen to share with the rest of the world. Minutes from all things dinosaurs and with plenty of space to run and play, our little one loved it and we enjoyed the peace and quiet, the views and the hiking trails. It really has something for everyone! We will definitely be back, sooner than later!

Wonderful Property!

This house and location are packed with things to do and surprises around every turn. The house is beautiful and comfortable. Gorgeous views in all directions. Will be booking again. Sandi and all the staff are very helpful, accommodating and informative.

Submitted: Aug 1, 2016

Stayed: Jul 2016

Source: VRBO, from HomeAway

Owner's Response: Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review, you are appreciated! I never get tired of the view coming down the road from St. Francis Hill, or the view from the upper deck at Mata'Zamo, glad you enjoyed them too! I hope you do book again!!! Thanks again!

Relaxing, rejuvenating, beautiful horse property and lodge along with THE BEST staff!

I can't pay enough accolades to High Hope Ranch! My niece and I stayed there recently with the intention of competing in an endurance horseback ride near Cleburne. We had to cancel the endurance ride the night before because my niece arrived very late, but that was our good fortune -- we got to ride our horses all through the beautiful trails at High Hope Ranch! Stunning countryside! The lodge itself was also perfection -- several of our family members visited us there and were very impressed also. It's certainly not a cookie cutter place but has its own distinct aura and charm -- such a treat. Additionally, it would be remiss of me to not compliment the staff. Though I didn't get to meet Sandra, she made our check in and out process so incredibly easy and was a joy to work with, and Chandler was onsite for the duration of our stay; EVERYONE wishes they had a Chandler to take care of their guests! When we arrived in my dually double cab truck with a 4 horse trailer w/ living quarters, gaining access into the ranch at the gate was difficult because of the size of our rig. Do you know that by mid-morning the next day, permanent accommodations had been made at the access point to ease access for us and for all future users with big rigs? How's that for customer service? EXEMPLARY! We will go back time and again and take more family and friends with us -- even though our original plans changed, we couldn't have had a better experience!

Away from it all

We had a great experience at this cabin. You truly feel like you're away from it all, yet only a few miles from the quaint town of Glen Rose. There are lots of trails to hike around the property or visit the nearby parks in the area. The view was awesome. We enjoyed our morning coffee on the back deck in the peace and quiet. Our kids loved playing with the stuffed animals and enjoyed their own room of bunk beds. The screened in porch was fun for dinners with the twinkle lights turned on at night. Sandy was very accommodating and helpful throughout our stay. Would highly recommend it!

We have one small bedroom downstairs with two sets of bunkbeds (4 beds). Our roomy, upstairs loft master bedroom opens up onto the upper deck, and has a queen bed and a trundle bed that converts to two single beds. It has a half-bath. It is an open loft with no doors except into the half bath, and just the outside walls.